Monkey Paw in a can!

First brews should be available in May

Monkey Paw, the tiny brewery operating out of the downtown tavern of the same name, is ready to become a pioneer:

In May, it will become the first San Diego brewery to offer its beers in cans.

A mobile canning company, CANVAN, will visit the Monkey during the same week as the Craft Beer Conference (April 30-May 5). Scot Blair, the bar and brewery's owner, announced that the first batch will be 100 cases of 16 ounce cans.

In recent years, cans have gained in popularity among brewers for several reasons: they are lighter than bottles, and thus cheaper to transport; "cheaper" means greener, as it takes less fuel to send a shipment to distant clients; and the metal completely shields beer from the harmful effects of light.

The Monkey's ebullient owner Scot Blair announced this move in an email. His enthusiastic run-on prose gives you a sense of his excitement:

"How will I sustain it and what is the next step (my own canning line, etc) is all undecided as we’ve been flying by the seat of our pants but clearly, I don’t want it to be a one hit wonder so I will continue to push forward with my original plans as we look at our predefined goal but suffice to say 'Brewed and Canned in San Diego, CA' will be a fact that we will have the privilege to say in a couple weeks."